Wilson is easy choice in lopsided contest

Democratic voters in U.S. House District 24 have an easy task, stick with the incumbent with a decades-long record of public service or pick a scandalously unqualified carpetbagger who just blew into town.

Without a shred of doubt, we favor the incumbent, Frederica Wilson. Her opponent — Ricardo De La Fuente of Venice, California — seems to have materialized out of nowhere. He didn’t respond to our invitation for a candidate interview and didn’t return his candidate questionnaire. He deserves no consideration at all.

De La Fuente's principal qualifications are a losing run for a California Congressional seat last year and an equally frivolous support role in his father’s failed presidential bid. The De La Fuente family has no want of humility, it seems.

By way of review, Congresswoman Wilson served as a teacher, then an elementary school principal, before joining the Miami-Dade County School Board. From there she went to the Florida House, then to the Florida Senate, where she served until term limits required her resignation. In 2011, she ran for the Congressional seat she now holds.

Wilson is an able and energetic representative who founded the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project, an in-school mentoring program for boys who lack a caring and trusted adult male in their lives. “It became my mission to fill that void,” she has said.

She also became the driving force behind the #BringBackOurGirls social media campaign after 276 girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram, an extremist terrorist organization based in northeastern Nigeria.

“People know me as a voice for the children,” she told us this week.

Wilson’s preference for flamboyant hats — she has hundreds of them and is rarely seen without one — invite some critics to dismiss her. Such was the case last year when Wilson tangled with President Trump’s chief of staff, John Kelly who called her an “empty barrel” and a spotlight hog.

It happened after Wilson, delivering some of her trademark constituent service, spent time consoling the mother of Sgt. La David Johnson, killed in action in Niger. President Trump made a condolence call to the widow, but his words wound up angering the family and Wilson, who heard the remark on car’s speaker phone.

Trump acknowledged the tragic loss, but added “he knew what he was getting into.” Wilson criticized Trump for being what she regarded as callous and insensitive. That fired up Kelly. He recalled attending a naming ceremony at the dedication of a regional FBI office. Wilson, he said, barely mentioned the FBI agents in whose memory the building was named and took all the credit for getting federal mount to build it.

Wilson angrily disputed his recollection and a Sun Sentinel video of the ceremony proved her correct. Her speech focused almost entirely on the slain FBI agents and was generous with praise of the bipartisan support the funding measure got.

For Wilson it was just another day at the office. Democrats would do well to keep her in it.

Wilson